Wimbledon Highlights 2016

Grab a bowl of strawberries, some Pimms and (let’s face it) an umbrella, because it’s time for our favourite sporting event of the year – Wimbledon.

This year looks set to be bigger and better than ever before – the stakes are raised as the winners’ money has increased by £2m, there’s a new wheelchair singles competition, and there are some new kids on the block ready to shake things up.

So if you want to know the highlights of who’s playing, who’s winning, who’s watching, and what they’re wearing, keep reading for the very best highlights of the competition so far…

Andy Murray wins second Wimbledon title for men’s singles

Murray beat Canadian Milos Raonic 6-4,7-6, 7-6, securing his third Grand Slam title and second Wimbledon victory. Centre Court was packed with royals and celebrities all rooting for Murray including Lily James, Bradley Cooper, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prime Minister David Cameron. Murray’s coach Ivan Lendl even teared up at the win. The 29-year-old Scot won both previous Grand Slams and Olympic victory under the coaching of Lendl.

Serena Williams wins her 22nd Grand Slam trophy

Serena Williams raised the Wimbledon trophy on Saturday after beating Angelique Kerber 7-5, 6-3 in the 2016 women’s singles. The win is Serena’s seventh Wimbledon single’s victory and 22nd Grand Slam, the same as the most successful of all time – Steffi Graf. If Serena secures another Grand Slam tournament next year she’ll break the world record. Just some of the stars supporting her included Natalie Portman, Ellen DeGeneres and Maisie Williams as well as Beyonce and Jay Z who watched on from the players’ box.

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Serena and Venus Williams win women’s double final

Serena and Venus won their sixth Wimbledon title together in the women’s doubles final, beating Timea Babos and Yaroslava Shvedova. Sixteen years after their first win together, the pair showed a united front and secured the 6-3, 6-4 win.

Kate Middleton wears Alexander McQueen dress for the final day

The Duchess stepped out on Centre Court on Sunday wearing a bold Alexander McQueen print dress from the new Obsession collection. The dress featured a talisman print including hummingbirds and lipsticks as well as a jewel neckline. The dress costs around £2,995, although Kate’s dress looked custom-made as it appeared longer than the one in the online collection.

Duke and Duchess of Cambridge congratulate Murray and talk babies

The Prince William and Kate Middleton were some of the first to greet the Wimbledon winner after he bagged the 2016 title. Murray and the Royals talked about their young children. Murray told the Duke his five-month-old daughter Sophia had slept three nights in a row prior to the match, to which the the Prince responded it must have been a ‘good omen.’ Watch the video here:

Watson and Kontinen win mixed doubles final

Watson and Kontinen beat Columbia’s Robert Farah and Anna-Lena Groenefeld 7-6 (7/5), 6-4. Watson celebrated her win by skipping around Centre Court, taking in the cheers from the onlooking crowd. Watson’s win added to the most successful day for British tennis in recent memory.

Great Britain’s Gordon Reid wins wheelchair singles title

The 24-year-old beat Paralympic champion Stefan Olsson 6-1, 6-4 on court 17. Reid also won the doubles title on Saturday alongside Aldie Hewett. Reid was ranked third in the world at the beginning of the week and says he hopes to inspire the next generation of wheelchair tennis players.

As per usual on any given day at Wimbledon, more celebrities could be seen taking their seats on Centre Court to watch some incredible tennis from the likes of Roger Federer and Andy Murray. Actor Jude Law was spotted with his partner Phillipa Coan, looking very animated as he took in the Wimbledon atmosphere. Katherine Jenkins, the mezzo-soprano who recently had to pull out of her dream-role in ‘Carmen’ due to a virus, was all smiles as she attended the tennis matches accompanied by her husband Andrew Levitas. Acting legend Charles Dance, who plays the conniving Tywin Lannister on Game of Thrones, was also spotted being drawn into the drama of the men’s singles semi-finals.

Kate Middleton makes her first appearance at Wimbledon 2016

Kate Middleton has arrived at Wimbledon for the first time since she was appointed as patron of Wimbledon’s All England Tennis Club in May this year. She looked stunning sitting in the Royal Box on Centre Court wearing a £900 Roskanda dress that she first wore in Australia on a royal tour in 2014. She shook hands with all the ball boys and ball girls and stopped to have a brief chat with Oracene Price, mother of the most famous sisters in tennis Serena and Venus Williams.

Kate Middleton poses for a Snapchat video with Serena Williams

Kate Middleton made her royal Snapchat debut appearing on Serena Williams’ story for all of the tennis star’s fans to see. The Wimbledon champion was introduced to the Duchess of Cambridge during Catherine’s first appearance at Wimbledon this year, where she watched Serena fly through her semi-final match to reach the Wimbledon women’s singles final taking place on Saturday. During the video, Catherine smiles at the camera before reaching for Sophie, Countess of Wessex to join them. Serena was obviously excited to meet Kate Middleton, saying “OK so I’m in the ‘in-crowd’ now. I’m with royalty.” Watch the video below:

Serena Williams will play in her ninth Wimbledon final on Saturday

Serena Williams, the world number one, is through to the Wimbledon women’s singles final yet again after thrashing Russia’s Elena Vesnina in a straight sets win that lasted less than an hour. She will play the fourth-seeded German player Angelique Kerber, who beat Serena’s older sister Venus in straight sets to reach her first Wimbledon final. Serena and Kerber have met before, with Kerber beating Serena in January this year to clinch her first Grand Slam title in the Australian Open Final. Serena will match Steffi Graf’s open era record of 22 Grand Slam singles titles if she’s able to seize victory on Saturday.

Venus Williams falls short of the Wimbledon women’s singles final

Many of us were hoping for an all-Williams final on Saturday, but this year it just wasn’t meant to be. Angelique Kerber, the world number four, fully deserved her place in the final against Serena Williams after an impressive display of tennis against former champion Venus Williams, which saw Kerber win the match in straight sets. Venus did incredibly well to reach the semi-finals, having last reached that stage of the tournament in 2009 when she then lost in the final to her younger sister.

Andy Murray battles through a tough match against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga to reach the semi-finals

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga was never going to make it an easy match for Andy Murray. As Murray said himself, Tsonga is “one of the best grass-court players in the world.” The match started off in Murray’s favour, as he won the first set after a tie break and breezed through the second set. However, Tsonga then completely turned the match on its head, playing tremendous tennis despite having had a string of injuries over the past couple of years to take two sets for himself. Both players were fired up, especially Murray who struggled to contain his frustration. Fortunately Murray was able to bring a little magic to Centre Court, as he won the fifth set to finally seize his victory over Tsonga after nearly four hours of play. Murray will now face Tomas Berdych, the 6ft 5in Czech player who narrowly lost out on a Wimbledon men’s singles title in 2010 when he lost in the final to Rafael Nadal.

Kim Sears embraces summer with a floral dress on Centre Court

Kim Sears never fails to support her husband as he amazes the crowds at Wimbledon with his tennis prowess. She was definitely in the summery spirit as she wore a beautiful floral Ted Baker dress, £150, and accessorised with her favourite £850 Aspinal of London bag.

Pop the bubbly! More people are watching this year’s tennis with a glass of champagne than with a glass of Pimm’s

Pimm’s, the usual beverage of choice for Wimbledon, has been pushed aside by a rise in the number of people opting for champagne instead. This may be in part due to the weather, as Pimm’s is typically the ideal drink to enjoy during a sunny day. Asda has seen a 400% increase in champagne sales since the Championships started, whereas sales of Pimm’s have gone down by 25%. Let’s see if this changes as the sun hopefully stays out during the last few days of the tournament!

All the A-listers head to SW19 to watch some tennis

Every year, people spend almost as much time looking out for celebrities at Wimbledon as they do watching the tennis. The Royal Box is a plethora of former sporting stars, fashion icons, Oscar winners and so many more. Footballing legend David Beckham, a Wimbledon regular, brought his sons Cruz and Romeo to watch the semi-final between Roger Federer and Marin Cilic. Other notable figures who were also present included editor-in-chief of American Vogue Anna Wintour, Poldark star Aidan Turner, actor Bradley Cooper and his model girlfriend Irina Shayk.